Railway rail anchor or anticreeper



8 1931- 'A. s. McDON NELL 1,817,455

RAILWAY RAIL ANCHOR 0R ANTICREEPER Filed April 27, 1929 I I 6 3 CI Q iuenlor/ pi fli sgonnell Patented Aug. 4, 1931 RAILWAY RAILVIANCHOR on ANTICRE PER Application filed April 27, 1929. serial No. 358,453.

The prime object of my'invention is to provide a simple, durable, economical, practical and thoroughly efficient anchor which may preferably be produced entirely from a malleable iron casting or from a combination of steel and malleable iron parts assembled, and which may be easilyand readily applied torthe' flange of a track rail and securely maintained in itsproper operative position I thereon, and, which will always efi'ectively grip the track rail and co-operate with a stationary part of the roadbed to prevent the track rail from creeping.

Another b 'ect of this invention is to so construct it, that it will always maintain an extremely tight hold and effective gripping engagement with the track rail under anyand all conditions of service[ i Fu her objects of this invention are toso construct itthat it" will successfullyresist creeping of the, track rail; thatit may be easily removed and re-applied numerous times,'and at the same time retain its effective tension and gripping power; that it provides the'broad bearingsurface so necessary to con tact with the railway tie, and depends to a considerable depth thereon for abutment, and is so shaped where it enters the road ballast that "the vibration and wave motion of the track rail will force the, ballast apart so that it will not be in constantcontact with said ballast, thereby avoiding interference with therailwayele'ctric systems now employed; that it possesses the desired and necessary resiliency in vits retaining arm when securing it to the track rail {that It 1s thickened orre-enforced at the points where the greatest strength is required, and the greater the rail pressure against the anchor 40 while its pressure plate abuts a railway tie,

the more intense is its gripping action on the rail.

The foregoing and such other object-s as may appear from the ensuing description are attained by the construction, arrangement,

location and combinationof the parts hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in p-depend-ing from the lower jaw may be formed integral with the jaw portion or separately the drawings and particularly pointed out in the claims appended hereto, itbeing under- I also stood that slight changes in the precise form,

proportions and minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages'of the invention. 5

' In the accompanying d I jawings forming a part of the'specification it will be seen fthat: Figure 1 is asideelevation of the improved device, embodying my invention applied to one edge of the track rail in" the position it assumes before bein g securedto the opposite 9 edge and showing the track mu in cross section, and a railway tie in side elevation.

Figure 2 is a similar view of my device I showing it applied to the track rail in its 05 operative position.

F1gure 3 is a "plan view of the device removed from therail. 1

broken away shown Figures is an end v1ew-o1 the same, and,

' Figure5 is a modification of the anchor with the resilient arm attached. Y I

In the embodiment of my invention as illushated, the numeral 1 designates a railway track rail, and 2 an underlying cross-tie formmade separately and ing a stationary part of the roadbed and sup:

porting the rail; the said rail having a tendency to creep when subjected to the intense strain caused by the passage of the rolling stock thereover. j "8 0 My improved rail anchor is formedfrom anyv'suitable or desirable metal but is preferably formed withthe gripping jawsand the pressure plate cast in malleable'iron, and theretaining arm maybe formed of a comparatively light steel spring bar and attached, or the entire anchor formed entirely of a one piece malleable casting as shown in Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4 and may be of any suitable dimensions; said jaw member 3 beingof-substan-eo tially massiveand rigid construction whichis adapted to slide easily onto the rail flange or base, being preferably just a snug fit to the flange for the necessary length of the jaws, andnot' a drive fit as-is so often used in rail 85 anchor construction, y

The pressure plate designated by numeral 4 and attached as preferred from a manufacturing standpoint and is placed substantially central transversely with the opening in the gripping jaws so as to obtain a transverse balance in the two opposing forces, namely, the creeping force exerted l y the rail and the resistive force set up by the anchor through its pressure plate abutting against the railroad tie, and thus avoid the twisting tendency so common in rail anchors wnich have the tieabutting part oil the vertical line 01' the grippingjaws W l Numeral 5 indicates the retaining and binding arm; this arm may be formed integral with the main body 3, or separately and attached,-and is used to perform two functions, namely, that of holding the jaw and pressure plate portion in place on the flange of the rail, and that of imparting to the jaw portion a rotary strain, the axis of which runs parallel to the rail, and which causes the jaws by holding sufliciently to hold them in a frictional position on the rail flange, so that when the creeping force is exerted against the pressure plate, the anchor is caused to tip or cant slightly, in a vertical plane on an axis running between the jaws and transversely to the rail, which forces it into its gripping or service position; the jaw edges 6 are formed reasonably sharp and when a pressure is exerted against the depending pressure plate in the direction indicated by the arrow A, in

Fi ure 4 the 'awsare iven a slight tiltin motion and tightl grip onto the rail flange, and positively hold against endwise rail movement.

In applying my anchor to the rail it is only necessary to place it on the rail flange, with the pressure plate 4:, against the tie 2, as

shown in Figure 1, and push or force it at 7, in the direction as indicated by the arrow B, in Figure 1, until the hook 8, snaps upward against the rail flange, as shown at 9, in Fig. 2, then drive the upper jaw in the direction indicated bythearrow C, in Fig. 3, so as to place it in position to immediately resist any rail motion in that direction. The anchor may readily be moved along the rail lengthwise if slight pressure is applied evenly on the jaws; but when the pressure is applied on one jaw only, as indicated by arrow A, in Fig. 4, the anchor assumes a shackle-grip.

3 The anchor may be removed from the rail by forcing and holding the hook 8, down to disengage it with the rail flange, and then r with a slight'pressure applied against'the upper jaw at 11 in Figure 2, in the direction indicated by arrow D it can be backed ofi. the rail.

In Fig. 5 my invention is shown in a modified form of construction. This form ineludes the jaw member 3 with its aw edges 6, and the pressure plate 4, substantially of the same construction as the form described above. The resilient retaining arm 5 in this form is preferably made of rustless spring steel, and is held in position on jaw member 3 by means of lugs 10 provided on said jaw member and which clasp the depending foot 5 of said retaining arm. The hook 8 on arm 5 snaps upward and engages the edge 9 of the rail 1 when the jaw member and arm are pushed into the operative position by applying suitable force to said jaw member at point 7, as indicated in Fig. 5.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: V

l. A rail anchor comprising a massive metallic rigid two jawed portion, formed with a jaw opening to flt smoothly and closely around a part of the rail flange on one side, a depending light pressure plate portion integral'with and offset forwardly from the line of the jaw portion but having a substantially central transverse location with reference to transversely to the opposite edge of the rail flange and having an upwardly extending book to engage this edge, said resilient arm member being constructed to initially have an upward tendency against the rail flange.

2. A rail anchor composed of a strong metallic rigid two awed member, of such form as to lit snugly a part of the rail flange on one side, a light depending pressure plate member attached thereto in the substantially central tranverse location with the said jaw opening in said jaw member, and extending downward from said aw member to engage with a stationary part of the roadbed, a light spring arm member attached to and extending transversely from the jaw and pressure plate members to the opposite edge of the rail flange, and having an upwardly extending hook to engage this edge; said spring arm member being made to initally have an upward tendency against the rail flange, said jaw member being comparatively narrow, in the direction lengthwise of the rail, to allow tilting of the anchor, thereby compelling the jaws to firmly grip the rail flange as the rail tends to creep. 7

ALOYSIUS S. MCDONNELL. 

